How to Protect Your Hair and Skin in the Pool

Water aerobics can be a fun, healthy way to exercise, especially for people suffering from arthritis or joint pain. But spending several hours each week in a chlorinated pool can wreak havoc on your hair and skin. Here are some tips that may help you avoid green chlorine hair, dry skin or faded swimsuits.

First, let's discuss hair. Always use a good conditioner that has SPF. This will help prevent your hair from bleaching out from chlorine. While swimming, using a swim cap can help prevent damage. After swimming, rinse hair with shampoo and if possible a white vinegar and water or lemon juice solution.

Next up, skin. Before swimming, apply sweat-free, oil -free sunscreen. After your swim, shower in fresh water and apply a moisturizing lotion. Be generous with the moisturizer.

Lastly, the faded, chlorine degraded suit. It may be popular to wear jeans with bleach marks, but faded swimsuits are not the rage. There are many polyester suits on the market that will hold up longer in chlorine. Many suits are labeled chlorine-proof or chlorine resistant swimwear. These suits hold up longer to extended time in the pool. They come in many styles including racerback swimwear and cross back swimwear. If these are not an option for you, always rinse your swimwear out in cool water ASAP. You do not need to machine wash every time. Then hang your suit to dry.